By Justin Mays:
December 2021 proved to be a promising month for the Turkish Real Estate sector. The month had high sales in real estate compared to the previous months. Both locals and foreigners invested massively in property leading to a 113.7% increase in sales.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) indicated that 226.503 houses were sold in December marking a 60% year-over-year increase. Turkish lira’s depreciation is one of the causes that led to the increase in sales. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) reduced the benchmark policy rate by 500 basis points to 14% from the month of September in the same year, a policy which was put up to lower interest rates and to boost exports and credit.
Property that was sold on mortgage, amounted to 45.260 units, which is a 209.3% increase from the previous year. 276.223 houses were sold in Istanbul, followed by 144.104 in the capital city, Ankara. The Aegean province of Izmir had 86.722 houses sold. Real estate developers encouraged local buyers to invest in real estate after the central bank lowered its policy rate which led to cheap credit.
TSKB Real Estate Valuation Manager, Makbule Yonel Maya said that Turks turned to real estate to safeguard their savings from inflation. In December, the Turkish lira hit a record by going low to 18.4 against the U.S dollar. "People have turned to real estate purchases from the moment inflation began to rise. Construction costs are consistently rising, this means housing prices are increasing, which support real estate investment", she said. Maya also added that people bought real estate in the last month of the year so as to avoid new year taxes and fees hikes.
The drop of the lira led foreigners to buy property cheaper in hard currency which resulted in 7.841 properties being bought in December giving a year-over-year increase of 77%. More than 50.000 units were sold by November which gives 3.9% foreign sales throughout 2021 giving a 43.5% year-on-year increase.
The places with the highest sales are Istanbul, the southern resort of Antalya, and Ankara with 26.469, 12.384, and 3.672 respectively. Nationals who bought the most units are Iranians with 10.056, followed by Iraqis with 8.661 and Russians who bought 5.379 units. Afghans bought 2.762 and Germans purchased 2.358 the same year.
